Providing a short orientation to the Center and introduction to languages for elementary and middle school students often from multicultural and disadvantaged communities

Hosted a visit by a diverse group of approximately 30 students from McKinley High School in the Arts Communication Pathway. A presentation on the language programs at UH was given and the students were given the opportunity to listen, speak and record themselves in various languages.

Since 2006, select faculty at UH have provided Chinese language instruction at the advanced level for personnel from the Department of Defense in aid of the DoD’s efforts to maintain force readiness. Cohorts of students complete work in special sections of both online and face-to-face upper-division Chinese language skills courses during winter and summer breaks, some of them earning the Certificate in Chinese. The Center for Language and Technology collaborates in this enterprise by providing instructional space, IT services including courseware for online learning, and IT support.

Use of computer lab, via Skype, matching up Brazilian university students with UHM Portuguese 202 students. Language learning in tandem involves pairs of native or non-native speakers of different languages working collaboratively to learn each other’s language.

LLL faculty member Daniel Harris-McCoy, assistant professor of Classics, and A&S undergraduate Brendon Oshita teamed up over the past summer to create “Toga Beats,” a hip-hop based method for learning Latin grammar. The result of their labor—an album consisting of thirty tracks in which Latin verb, noun, and pronoun-forms are set to catchy electronic music—was recently released by Bolchazy-Carducci, one of the premier publishers of Greek and Latin pedagogical materials. The goal of the tracks is to make Latin grammar, like a favorite song, get stuck in the head of the listener, making the language easier to learn.

“Greek Beats” is a hip-hop based method for learning Greek grammar. The result of their labor—an album consisting of 21 tracks in which Greek verb, noun, and pronoun-forms are set to an infectious hip hop beat—was recently released by Bolchazy-Carducci, one of the premier publishers of Greek and Latin pedagogical materials. The goal of the tracks is to make Greek grammar, like a favorite song, get stuck in the head of the listener, making the language easier to learn.
The “lyrics” were written and performed by Harris-McCoy and set to music created by Oshita. Recording sessions were held in the Center for Language & Technology’s studio. Harris-McCoy notes, “It was such a privilege to work with Brendon once again. He is immensely talented and gave his heart and soul to the project. The resulting album speaks for itself, and is a wonderful example of the things faculty and students can accomplish when they collaborate.”

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, with strong interest from the state of Hawai‘i’s Governor’s office, is coordinating the Hawai‘i Language Roadmap Initiative. The goal is to implement a roadmap for change —in education, in business, in state and county government, and in the community— to help build the future multilingual workforce of Hawai‘i.

Hosting and supervision of student intern at CLT working exclusively on projects to enhance the visitor experience at Hawaii's Plantation Village, an outdoor museum in Waipahu celebrating Hawaii's sugar plantation heritage.